Reconciliation
“These are your friends?”
Olga-senpai looked over at the seats where Gail and Casher were sitting and asked.
I hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.
“…The girl side is the childhood friend I mentioned before.”
“Ah.”
Olga-senpai’s eyes widened in surprise at my words.
“Then the ones you’re with are your boyfriends?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm… So you’re as handsome as you say.”
She looked at Gail with a hint of admiration in her eyes too.
After all, even I had lost my mind when I first saw him.
“But why are they here? You didn’t bring them here on purpose, right?”
“The guy side has a regular spot here.”
“Really?”
Olga-senpai had only started working a few days ago, so she hadn’t known.
She apologized to me with an awkward expression.
“Sorry. If I had known, I wouldn’t have brought you along.”
“It’s fine. How would you have known?”
Even though I said it was okay, Olga-senpai let out a little groan and whispered subtly.
“…Or should I go over and beat them up a bit?”
“……?”
I momentarily doubted my ears.
No, but this senpai…
Honestly, I had wondered who would win if the strongest first-year Gail clashed with Olga-senpai, but of course it wasn’t that.
I sighed and shook my head at her senseless proposal, not even mentioning that she was a demon.
“It’s fine now. What’s the point of showing up late…”
I now had Nadia.
The relationship with Casher was still awkward for now, but I couldn’t pretend we didn’t know each other after being childhood friends in the hometown for so long.
Once we got used to each other like this, maybe we’d eventually reach the point of casually greeting each other.
***
The next morning.
“Dorn! You okay?”
Yuli ran over to me as I entered the lecture hall with a normal face and asked about yesterday’s events.
“It was all handled.”
I explained everything that happened exactly as it was, and Yuli sighed in relief after listening.
“I’m really glad the senpai helped you.”
As she said that, she cursed Scott for being a coward and trying to assault me as a group.
“You don’t even know how embarrassing it is.”
Yuli, who had been bristling at being called shameless, smiled triumphantly when she saw the broken guy’s face.
Following her gaze, I looked at Scott. The moment our eyes met, he quickly looked away.
‘Olga-senpai’s performance was spot on.’
It seemed like that guy wouldn’t bother me anymore.
But even though everything went smoothly, there was still one demon who couldn’t relax.
“Nadia, during class, your hand—”
“…No.”
Even today, her face was bandaged, but Nadia shook her head vigorously in front of my eyes.
What could be making her so uneasy?
From the moment I met her this morning, she had been holding my right hand the whole time.
‘She must have gone to check on me last night and said there was nothing, but still…’
I had no choice but to continue writing with my left hand, which felt awkward.
It was cute how Nadia was acting, but at the same time it made me a bit annoyed that she didn’t trust me enough.
Honestly, I wasn’t exactly reliable, but I figured I should punish her for doubting her boyfriend too much.
‘I’ll punish her ass tonight.’
The thought of her firm, bouncy ass made me excited already.
***
During the survival exam period.
Thanks to yesterday’s events, I threw myself even more enthusiastically into Professor Meibao’s class.
“Good. Self-defense training with bare hands for the rest of the time.”
Following Professor Meibao’s instructions, the students paired up and faced each other.
My partner was Scott.
Ever since I started dating Nadia, the way he looked at me was full of hostility.
He didn’t even hold back his strength during sparring.
BAM—
“……!!”
The troll’s raw power in his fist grazed the side of my head.
I felt sweat trickling down my back.
Even though my stance was a bit off, Scott’s punch had enough force to knock me out with just one hit.
‘It’s like fighting some yokai.’
The saving grace was that his movements were slow because he was so huge.
I dodged his attacks and looked for an opening.
“Hah—!!”
‘Now!’
As he kept missing with his punches and was getting more excited to swing big, I dropped low and drove in from below.
Single-leg tackle.
I wrapped one arm around his thick thigh and shoved his hips with the other, flipping him over like uprooting a tree.
“Uwa—!”
KONG!
Scott, whose center of gravity had shifted, staggered to the side with all his might.
I didn’t miss my chance and quickly circled behind him, wrapping my arm around his neck from below and chaining into a rear naked choke.
“Kuruk?!”
Wiggle wiggle!
Scott thrashed in his seat trying to get up, but he couldn’t escape the choke I had properly locked in.
“Cough— cough—!!”
In the end, he tapped out.
I hadn’t expected to actually win.
It was possible because Scott had almost no pain tolerance and was lacking in technique.
I told Scott, who was sitting on the floor.
“Thanks for the—”
“Uwaah…”
“…Are you crying?”
I was shocked when I saw Scott sobbing with tears streaming down his face.
No, a guy should not be crying because he got choked during sparring, right?
I reached out to help him stand up, but Scott slapped my hand away.
“Get lost, you traitor!”
“Hey, Scott…”
“I believed you were a good guy… How could you do this to your friend!”
The guy was acting like he was in some tragic drama all by himself, and I sighed.
“Bad guy… trash who steals his friend’s girlfriend… Well, anyway, it’s over.”
Yeah. Whatever happened, I had been the one who planted the seed of doubt in Scott’s mind.
His whiny and pitiful appearance was too pitiful, so I decided to apologize and comfort him.
“I’m sorry… So please get up quickly. Other people are watching.”
***
After the Cradle class ended.
I somehow managed to convince Nadia, who kept clinging to me, to send her home first.
After that, I went with Scott to the bar where we had visited before with Senior Juno.
“We should eat first, not drink…”
Scott grumbled like that and sat down.
I felt a little irritated, but since I had brought him along to apologize, I held back.
“I’ll treat today.”
I said that, but the pocket money didn’t allow for expensive drinks.
I ordered reasonably cheap side dishes and the cheapest alcohol, then started talking with Scott.
“It’s my fault about Nadia. I honestly didn’t expect this either.”
“…The fact that you abandoned your friend to choose a woman doesn’t change.”
“Yeah, I’m apologizing for that too. Honestly, I needed your strength during the exam…”
It was the perfect moment to start talking seriously and clear the air between me and Scott.
“Oh, it’s Dorn!”
A beautiful woman with sexy bronze skin and long ears approached me and recognized me.
She was Rouge, the dark elf I had been introduced to through Senior Juno before.
“Rouge. Long time no see.”
“Huhuhu, right? Fate, isn’t it?”
She greeted me with a bright smile, then introduced the group she was with.
It was another demon, not the lycanthrope Kiko I had seen before.
“This one’s named Hazel. She’s my friend.”
Hazel was an unexpectedly flashy blonde beauty.
Her skin was so pale it contrasted with Rouge’s, but… what really stood out was her massive breasts.
Not quite at Sienna’s level like the boarding house owner, but close enough.
I was lost in thought for a moment, and under the table Scott kept poking my leg and giving me signals.
‘This water buffalo…’
He was clearly signaling to introduce me.
Since I had brought him to appease her, I let him have his way.
“Ah, this is my friend.”
I opened my mouth, and Scott quickly introduced us to the two women.
“Hello, I’m Scott.”
…Why is this guy suddenly lowering his voice?
“Dorn’s friend, huh? Nice to meet you. I’m Rouge.”
Rouge introduced herself normally.
Meanwhile, her friend Hazel showed unexpected interest in Scott.
“Are you a troll?”
“Y-yes… How did you know?”
“Trolls with that kind of build in green skin are obviously trolls. Huhuhu, anyway, nice to meet you. I’m Hazel.”
Her face, which had been a bit cold, suddenly lit up with a dazzling smile, and she shook Scott’s hand.
Maybe the smile had hypnotized him.
Scott did a completely unprompted action without consulting me.
“Hey… If the two of you don’t mind, would you like to join us at our table?”
What the hell is this troll guy saying now?
I glared at Scott in confusion, but he didn’t even look back.
“We’re treating Dorn today anyway. Since we ran into each other, why don’t you join us for a drink and come with?”
“Oh, really? Hazel, what do you think?”
“I’m fine with whatever if you’re paying.”
The two beauties surprisingly agreed.
“Hey, you can’t just decide that…”
“Shh!”
I was about to say something to Scott, but he shushed me and signaled to stay quiet.
Then he leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“This is our chance to drink with women! I’ll pay for everything, so you should join too.”
Hearing that, I was stunned.
What had gotten into this coward?
Had he really changed that much? His unusually bold behavior was shocking.
‘…No choice.’
I couldn’t back out now, and in the end I sat down with the two beautiful women.
Scott, with a grin stretching from ear to ear, ordered expensive alcohol and side dishes like a bourgeois.
“Here, have a drink.”
Somehow, Rouge, who had been sitting next to me like before, poured me a glass.
“What happened with that childhood friend story?”
“Ah, about that…”
I glanced at Scott sitting across from me.
While Hazel was busy chatting with him, I answered Rouge’s question.
“…I cleared it up, and now I’m dating someone else.”
“Oh, that’s great! Congratulations. What’s your girlfriend like?”
“She’s really kind and pretty.”
“Huhuhu, how enviable.”
Feeling like I couldn’t just talk about myself, I asked about her too.
“Rouge, who are you dating?”
“Me? Well… there’s no one right now, but if I find someone interesting…”
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know. I met this guy at a bar recently. He’s small and cute, so the moment I saw him I got interested.”
“……?”
As I listened to her words, I paused for a moment.
‘Is this about me?’
I had met her recently at a bar, and he was the epitome of a small, cute male demon.
‘But… this doesn’t feel like a coincidence at all.’
This was troublesome… flirting subtly like this to me, who already had a girlfriend.
She had seemed so mature, but there was a subtle cuteness in her.
Of course, that didn’t mean I could accept those feelings.
‘Rouge can’t, but I have Nadia.’
I decided that if she confessed, I would firmly reject her, and steeled my heart.
…Only later did I realize that it had all been wishful thinking.